Exposing the Masked Qualities of Objects
Author: Federica Sofia Zambe
Interview with Macaulay Brown
Who influences you graphically?
Josef Albers, Mike Kelley, Albrecht Dürer engravings, Andrew Zago, and Neyran Turan
You juxtapose monochromatic images to those rich in colour in the project?
I find that an intense juxtaposition in any circumstance causes us to double back and look again. The intense shift between the monochromatic images and the rich-in-color images aims to shock and disrupt the viewing process, hopefully cause the audience to look again.
Part Object, what is the effect and purpose of this?
The objective and effect of the Part Object is to establish a number of tectonic architectural complexities (the façade, the form, and the fenestration) that all attempt to occupy the same conceptual space within the project. By this I mean that each one of these components sets up an architectural move that aims to guide the design, however when their distinct components attempt to do this, the resulting object becomes fractured. Suddenly the parts no longer amount to a whole, but they do seem to partake in something beyond themselves (the façade, the form, and the fenestration). Part Object as a result is thrust in to a state of flux unable to settle and clot. In this unstable, misaligned, fluid state, the Lo-Fi form starts to negate resolution, closure and meaning, shifting the focus towards more immediate, visceral qualities. Qualities, which aim at the “feelies” and a more emotional aura, in place of the classic “message” or “statement”.
What is your take on the art of collage? How can the juxtaposition of images both de-contextualise and push an image to its full extent?
Collage is an extremely important and powerful technique for architecture today. This mode of production allows the author to appropriate snippets of information from any number of contexts and stitch them together in order to produce an original work. An image that can approach the history of its source material as it pleases, relieving objects of their past to allow for new meaning. Most importantly the medium allows for the creator to signal to something that exists beyond the space of the image. When two or more independent fragments are composed together this allows the content of a project to go beyond the information physically present, to transcend form into the formless, allowing an idea to resonate independent from the binding framework of tectonic space.
After Flatlining proposes images which are absent of people, how does this reinforce your proposal?
People and objects operate on two different frequencies. By nature, we as humans are automated to pick up on and decode facial expressions in order to understand and relate to those around us. Thus the human figure becomes a sort of anchor point that does not require conscious effort to engagement with (high frequency). Objects on the other hand do require some form of engagement and as a result fall second to the emotions and behavior of people (low frequency). With After Flatlining, I was fascinated with the potential of removing the human component in order to expose the masked qualities of objects. Once these objects are aloud to breath within their own ontology, they begin to reveal more specific emotions and behaviors. By removing this distraction from the frame, I aim to bring these behaviors to the forefront and montage them together to fabricate a new reality and existence, one that can simultaneously appear true and false calling into question the difference between the original and the simulation.
Part Object
Part Object
After Flatlining
After Flatlining
After Flatlining
Go Figure
Go Figure
Go Figure
About
MacAulay Brown is an architecture student currently attending Rice University in Houston, TX. He has previously worked with WW Architecture, Zago Architecture, Michael Maltzan Architecture, and Gensler Los Angeles and is originally from Sacramento, California.
